Hint: “Relax under the stars and this tropical hideaway. Can you catch those Glytches? Do you want to play?.”Volterra.

]]>2399Mon, 13 Aug 2018 16:06:35 +0000Scheduled Maintenance Scheduled for Aug 13, 08:30 - 09:30 PDThttps://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/2398-scheduled-maintenance-scheduled-for-aug-13-0830-0930-pdt/
We will be performing scheduled maintenance from 5:30 AM to 6:30 AM PDT, Monday August 13th, 2018. During this time you may notice slower than normal load times as well as issues with login and billing services. We appreciate your patience while we continue to perform upgrades and maintenance.

]]>2391Mon, 23 Jul 2018 18:08:25 +0000SL15B Gift Grab Clue - Week 5https://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/2389-sl15b-gift-grab-clue-week-5/Hint: “ Those mischievous Glytches have taken over the Shire! Can you find the gift before they set it on fire?!?”Hartyshire.

]]>2389Mon, 16 Jul 2018 16:06:40 +0000A Face lift for Auctionshttps://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/2386-a-face-lift-for-auctions/Today we’re announcing our new, fresh facedAuctions System - now part of Place Pages. We’ve created an Auctions Walkthrough and the Auctions FAQ to help answer common questions and provide a detailed breakdown of how auctions work and what happens during the different stages of bidding.

You’ll notice a couple of key changes:

Bidding on an auction will require you have the funds available in your account at the time you place a bid. Your maximum bid amount is immediately taken out of your account and held in escrow.

If you are the winning bidder, the parcel you won will be assigned to you within an hour of the auction closing.

Soon it will be possible for you to create auctions to sell mainland parcels you own (the parcel must be owned individually, not by a group).

Effective immediately, monthly maintenance fees on Private Estates have dropped in price by up to 15%! In addition, one-time land set-up fees are also being reducedby as much as 41%.

Ready to save? Here are the details on our newly-reduced prices:

Whether you are an existing or former landowner (or just thinking about owning land), now is a great time to save on Private Regions to build, create and design your own homes, businesses or experiences in Second Life!

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Private Estate price reductions do not apply to Skilled Gaming Regions. While new Openspace Regions are no longer available for purchase, existing Openspace Region landowners will receive the newly-reduced monthly pricing. In addition, these changes will not impact any grandfathered or “bought down” land prices, since those are still below the newly-reduced rates. Lastly, Education/Nonprofit (EDU/NP) discounted full islands have also been re-priced to maintain their 50% discount off the regularly priced full islands. The new price of $124.50 will go into effect at the start of that island's next invoiced billing term.

]]>2382Tue, 03 Jul 2018 20:52:00 +0000SL15B Gift Grab Clue - Week 3https://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/2381-sl15b-gift-grab-clue-week-3/“It begins with an A. It ends with an N. It’s a place you may visit time and again ”Ahern

]]>2381Mon, 02 Jul 2018 16:51:06 +0000SL15B Gift Grab Clue - Week 2https://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/2377-sl15b-gift-grab-clue-week-2/“Check in at the luggage desk. The gift is in plain sight. But don’t take too long, or you may miss your flight!” #Hau Koda:

]]>2377Mon, 25 Jun 2018 16:10:46 +0000https://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/2376-beat-the-heat-with-a-cool-deal-on-premium-enchanting-new-premium-only-gift/For a limited time, get 50% off your first payment on a new monthly Premium Membership subscription.*

Premium Members receive a L$1000 sign-up bonus, a weekly L$ stipend to spend on whatever you want, your own home, and exclusive gifts like an amazing Crystal Fortress Skybox (pictured). You can also enjoy many other benefits, like exclusive access to Premium Sandboxes inworld (where you can create and meet other Premium Members) and Premium Access that gives you priority access to crowded Regions and events.

Talk about a view! In honor of our 15th Birthday we are giving Premium Members a very special new gift, a Crystal Fortress Skybox! The new skybox is a luxurious palace with several special features like a teleport system for easy access to all areas, a water feature with koi fish, and your own Guardian Dragon! Okay, so your Guardian Dragon doesn't do much serious guarding. He mostly flies around inside your skybox looking awesome. The Crystal Fortress also incorporates a privacy screen so you are not visible from the outside and has a special owner-only access port underneath coded to your UUID. Use it as your home, a gathering place for friends, a work space, or just for yourself as a special place for some solitude.

Premium Members can stop by one of the Premium Gift kiosks to claim their gifts. If you’re not yet Premium, take advantage of this 50% off sale toupgradeand grab your Crystal Fortress right now.

*TERMS & CONDITIONS FOR 50% DISCOUNT This offer begins on June 21, 2018 at 8AM Pacific Time (PT) and expires on July 5, 2018 at 8AM PT. To qualify for this promotion, you must 1) have an existing Second Life ("SL") basic account or create a new account, and 2) select monthly (every one month) billing for your SL account. The fifty percent (50%) discount will be applied to your first month's bill and future months will be billed at the standard Premium Membership price (currently US$9.50 per one month). For new accounts or accounts not previously upgraded to Premium Membership, after initial login through the Second Life viewer following upgrade to Premium Membership and: 1) following your first full week, the L$300 weekly stipend will be deposited to your account every Tuesday for the duration of your Premium Membership; and 2) after your account has been active for forty-five (45) consecutive days, the L$ sign-up bonus will be deposited to your account.

As Second Life continues its 15th birthday festivities this month, we’ve got a new pricing announcement that is definitely worth celebrating. How about lower land prices and reduced set-up fees?

Effective July 2, monthly maintenance fees on Private Estates are dropping by up to 15%! In addition, one-time land set-up fees are also reducedby as much as 41%. And remember, the setup fee includes your first month’s payment.

Discounts will vary based on the type of land, so here are the details on current vs. new pricing:

The fine print? These price reductions do not apply to Skilled Gaming Regions. New Openspace Regions will no longer be available after June. However, existing Openspace Region landowners will benefit from this newly-reduced monthly pricing beginning July 2. Also, these changes will not impact any grandfathered or “bought down” land prices, since those are still below the newly-reduced rates. Lastly, Education/Nonprofit (EDU/NP) discounted full islands will be re-priced to maintain their 50% discount off the regularly priced full islands. The new price of $124.50 will go into effect at the start of that island's next invoiced billing term.

In addition to dropping prices on land, on July 2, we will also increase the cost to buy Linden Dollars to $1.49 per transaction (compared to the current rate of 99 cents per transaction). This increase will help us offset the revenues lost on land, and to keep Second Life a vibrant world that continues to push the limits of possibility - for another 15 years to come.

Today we are pleased to bring Animesh to Agni and one step closer to release. Since last October, when we first introduced the Animesh Project, we’ve worked closely with the content creator community. We’ve been holding User Content Meetings where we listen to your ideas, make tweaks, and fine tune this feature. We’ve come a long way since then and are excited to bring Animesh to the main grid (Agni) as part of the SLB15 Celebration.

Examples courtesy of Silas Merlin

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this project, Animesh is a new Second Life feature which allows independent objects to use rigged mesh and animations, just as you see today with mesh avatars. This means that you can now have wild animals, pets, vehicles, scenery features, and other objects which play animations!

To use Animesh, you will need to be in a region that’s running the latest Animesh simulator build. Currently the enabled regions are those in the Bluesteel RC channel. You will also need the latest Animesh-enabled viewer, which you can find on the alternate viewers page

If you would like to learn more, we have the Animesh Forums where our users have been sharing their questions, ideas, and examples of what they’ve been working on. We also have an Animesh User Guide to help you jump into Animesh along with a weekly Content User Group meeting. More documentation will be coming soon!

A special thanks to Lucia Nightfire for coming up with the name Animesh!

]]>2374Wed, 20 Jun 2018 17:34:04 +0000A Second Life 15th Birthday Message from Ebbehttps://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/2373-a-second-life-15th-birthday-message-from-ebbe/Very few communities can say they’ve been around for 15 years, but that’s exactly what the Second Life community is celebrating this year! While Second Life’s official “birthday” is June 23rd, 2003, both our community-driven and official festivities kicked off this week in style! If you missed any of the major details, take a look at our blog post for a refresher in all things SL15B.

In addition to the many events, parties, contests, and other celebrations - we took a moment to speak to Linden Lab’s CEO Ebbe Altberg about what makes Second Life so unique, and what keeps it vibrant and thriving at fifteen years. There’s also a cameo from an extra-special former Linden that you don’t want to miss!

For more of Ebbe’s thoughts on Second Life and the incredible community we have, read his exclusive interview with Strawberry Singh over at her blog, and be sure to check out his avatar makeover! You can learn more about Ebbe’s vision for the next 15 years of Second Life in this recent podcast with Games Wisdom.

Be sure to mark your calendars for Ebbe’s inworld appearance at Meet the Lindens this Wednesday June 20th at 2 p.m (PT/SLT).

Thanks to Draxtor Despres and Marianne McCann for their work on this video!

]]>2373Tue, 19 Jun 2018 16:09:00 +0000Second Life 15th Birthday Kickoff - A Tapestry of Timehttps://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/2370-second-life-15th-birthday-kickoff-a-tapestry-of-time/As Second Life turns 15, we look to the past, present and into the future of what makes this such an incredible community and place. The theme we chose for this year’s celebration is ‘Crystal’ - and it seemed the perfect theme for a year in which we want to reflect on Second Life’s incredible history, embrace its thriving present, and look forward to its exciting future.

As we met to discuss all the things we wanted to do this year, the idea of a ‘tapestry of time’ came up again and again. Imagine a bazaar filled with colorful tents and tapestries from all walks of life. As you move through the street you encounter wonderfully diverse and interesting people, each bringing something unique to contribute to the bustle of the bazaar. As you pause to take in the sights and sounds, you glimpse a woman sitting at a table inside one of the tents, her crystal ball shimmering on the table in front of her as she looks you in the eye and invites you to come sit and see what the past, present, and future of Second life have in store for you.

The Big 15th Birthday Weekly Gift Grab

Fifteen years is a tremendous achievement for any community, and we’ve been hard at work on a fun and interactive gift hunting series to thank our Residents. The Big 15th Birthday Weekly Gift Grab starts today - June 18th, 2018!

For the next 15 weeks, we’ll be releasing a different crystal-themed gift each week. All you have to do is find and collect the gifts. Each fabulous gift is available for one week only, and in one Region only. The Region will change each week, and we'll be publishing clues each week to help you find the Region to search for that week's gift – watch the Second Life social media channels and the Blog at for the clues.

Investigate the clue for the week by checking our Blog or social media channels ( This week’s clue is already up so go check it out now!)

Find the Region and start searching

Remember, each gift is available for one week only, and then it's gone. You can collect as many, or as few gifts as you want, but if you want to collect the final super-special Birthday Gift in the final week you will need to have collected all 14 of the previous gifts.

Don't forget to check the Blog each week for updates.

Costume Parties & Contests

Monday, June 18th - 11 am to 1 pm - Come As You WereWe’re gonna party like it’s 2003! The Come as You Were Costume Contest and Party is a way to dust off your oldest, n00b looks and wear then out with pride. We’re getting together from 11 am to 1 pm (SLT) to dance and enjoy a look at the past and how far we’ve come. Join us and get in touch with your inner Ruth - you could win a L$5,000 costume contest prize! Rules are available here.

Wednesday, June 20th - 7pm to 9pm - Crystal BallIt’s nice to get dressed up in your fanciest from time to time - and we love a good reason to throw a ball - so this year you’re cordially invited to join us for our Crystal Ball - in celebration of Second Life’s 15th Birthday. Imagine the elaborate ball from the movie Labyrinth and waltz your most glamorous look over for a chance to win L$5,000. Rules are available here.

For the first time ever - we’ve gathered 80 of Second Life’s Merchants across 4 Regions for one big shopping extravaganza that you don’t want to miss! Each Merchant is providing a free gift in celebration of this landmark birthday and offering incredible deals on some of their most popular items. In addition, many will also be participating in a sale on the Marketplace as well. Visit each Region below to get a little celebratory shopping in, grab free gifts, and take advantage of the amazing discounts. A full list of participating Merchants is available here. Many of the Merchants are also participating in a Marketplace sale, so be sure to visit them in the web as well as inworld!

In tradition of the last several Second Life birthdays, we have three days of incredible live music lined up for you! Come out and join us as we rock, pop, and roll to a variety of genres.

Full line up can be seen here - though may be subject to changes because that’s showbiz!

Meet the Lindens

We’re back for another year of Meet the Lindens where some of the folks who work on Second Life sit down to chat about what makes Second Life so special, and field some questions from the community at large. Check out the schedule and details on our Destination Guide. All meeting will be inworld at 2pm (SLT).

Today, we’re happy to announce a brand new feature for theLand Manager page for private Estate Owners: web-based region restarts! Starting now, Estate Owners will be able to restart their regions remotely from theirland.secondlife.comMy Regions page.

We’ve been listening to the feedback from our Private Region owner community and we know that sometimes it’s impractical or even impossible to access your region inworld to perform the more traditional in-viewer region restart using the Region/Estate menu. With this new feature, Estate Owners can proactively select and restart their regions directly from the website without needing to log inworld and travel to each region individually.

Since we know that sometimes the reason a region cannot be accessed easily inworld is due to active griefing scenarios, we have also included the ability to restart the region in safe mode, in which the region will be brought back up with all the scripts, physics, and collisions disabled, making it possible to enter and remove any lingering item that may be causing issues. To see the new features available to you as a private Estate Owner, just log in to SecondLife.com and visit yourLand Manager page.

We are always listening to your feedback, and we’re committed to continuing to make Second Life easier, safer, more efficient, and more fun!

Thank you for making Second Life great! We look forward to sharing more exciting new features with you soon.

]]>2367Fri, 08 Jun 2018 16:08:49 +0000https://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/2357-seeking-musicians-merchants-for-second-life%E2%80%99s-15th-birthday-festivities/Second Life’s 15th Birthday is coming! It’s an incredible thing to have 15 years of history to celebrate, with no end in sight, and we’re planning to commemorate this milestone event along with our Residents! Please stay tuned to this blog and our social media pages for more details as they arrive - there are some new things in store this year we can’t wait to roll out and tell you all about!

Read on for a just a few events we have brewing … we’re looking for your help!

Calling All Merchants - Inworld Shopping Event Submissions

We’re actively seeking Merchants who are willing to participate in an inworld Official SL15B Shopping event! Our inworld shopping events have been very successful and we hope to continue that tradition with a big SL15B. We are looking for quality Merchants across all categories to be a part of this exclusive event. If you think that this is something you’d like our brand to participate in, read on! Space is limited!

If you are a Merchant who is interested in being part of this event, please fill out this form no later than June 5th, 2018. The event itself will run from June 18th, through July 2nd, 2018.

It’s great to be celebrating 14 years of Second Life with our amazing community! We’re looking forward to doing so this year, as well as many more years to come!

Music Fest Showcase Sign Ups

Don’t forget - Music Fest is returning this summer and you can sign up now to be part of our Showcase Auditions.

To sign up for an audition, please complete the submission form no later than May 18th, 2018. Sign ups will close at 12:01 AM (SLT) on May 19th, 2018. While we encourage everyone to sign up, it is not a commitment on your part and does not guarantee a spot at the auditions. We will review all submissions and extend audition invitations via email and/or inworld to the designated contact.

All Second Life Residents are welcome to participate in the auditions as audience members. It’s an opportunity to see a variety of acts showcase the best they have to offer. For those who are interested, the auditions location will be shared in a future blog post.

We’re excited about these events and can’t wait to share more with you soon!

Here at Linden Lab, we’re deeply committed to ensuring the safety and security of our customers’ data. It’s why we began preparing for the May 25th implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) more than a year ago, and it’s why we want to alert you not only to some of the privacy enhancements we’ve made on our end, but also the ways the new law may impact you.

GDPR, in a nutshell.Put simply, the GDPR puts in place new requirements for the collection, maintenance, and use of personal data for residents of the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA). It’s an important evolution in privacy practices, and one we’ve already started to account for: if you notice, our existing Privacy Policy already discloses the type of personal data we collect from you, how we use and limit any sharing of your data, and your rights to control our use of your personal data.

What you can expect.In coming weeks, we’ll provide more information on how EU residents in Second Life can best exercise their rights under GDPR. In some cases, you may take actions through your account dashboard (to modify your personal data, for instance). In others, it may be necessary to file a support ticket and verify your identity (to better protect your privacy).

What you should know.If you collect or process personal data of EU residents on a website associated with Second Life or Sansar, or create or make use of programs that retain information about Second Life or Sansar users or their computers, you may also have obligations under the GDPR. You should consult with your legal counsel for advice regarding your site(s) or program(s).

If you would like to learn more about the GDPR, here are some overviews:

]]>2356Wed, 09 May 2018 18:23:19 +0000Second Life Now on Instagram!https://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/2352-second-life-now-on-instagram/
Hello Residents!

We're excited to announce that we've opened up a new social media channel for Second Life. Since we're turning 15 this year - we decided that we're mature enough to be trusted with an Instagram account. Head on over, follow us, and we'll be sharing some fun things there. Check out our first post now!

The SL15B "crystal" theme this year aims to inspire our Residents to reflect on the past 15 years and peek into the future to explore the next 15 years of Second Life. To kick things off, we've rounded up some interesting statistics and facts about the past and present state of Second Life in this new infographic (click to enlarge):

So, what about the future? Last week, Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg met with the community to discuss what's next for SL via two live Town Hall events. SL Residents were invited to submit their questions in a Town Hall forum thread and many community questions were answered directly over both hour-long events.

Did you miss either Town Hall event? If so, you can catch up and hear directly from Ebbe in the following video:

Not all submitted questions were answered in both Town Halls. That's why Linden Lab staffers continue to review and respond to many additional questions submitted in the Town Hall thread.

Stay tuned for news on more opportunities to interact with Linden Lab executives, including breakout meetups and additional Town Hall events.

This June, Second Life turns 15 and we’re planning some fun ways to honor this long-standing community and invite some of the rest of the world to come check out what makes us so special! Stay tuned to this blog for more details about events to come and read on to find out about the first of many - our annual Music Fest - sponsored by Linden Lab.

In recent years we’ve taken the popular idea of music festivals and brought them into the virtual world - all the music, merriment, and good times without the sunburn. This year will mark the 4th annual Music Fest in celebration of Second Life - and we can’t wait to get grooving.

Since we started Music Fest in Second Life, we’ve held an audition showcase to highlight some of the musical talent in the Second Life community. Many of you have been performing for years in virtual venues all over the grid, and we’d love to have you come showcase your talent at the tryouts for this summer Music Fest. All genres are welcome! From bands to solo acts, rock and roll to electronica - we encourage anyone to sign up for consideration. The Second Life Music Fest is an opportunity to perform at one of the biggest celebrations in Second Life, and it’s a paid gig!

To sign up for an audition, please complete and submit the submission form no later than May 18, 2018. While we encourage everyone to sign up, it is not a commitment on your part and does not guarantee a spot at the auditions. We will review all submissions and extend audition invitations via email to the designated contact. Each invited act will have a short audition time (5 minutes max) to play and leave an impression on a panel of judges made up of Lindens and Residents. This panel will select acts to be invited to perform at the Second Life Music Fest. Upon completion of a half hour slot at the festival, the designated contact for each act will be eligible for payment (subject to Linden’s terms and conditions).

All Residents are welcome to participate in the auditions as audience members. Again, I can’t stress enough what a great time it is to see so many musicians perform and support one another! For those who are interested, the auditions location will be shared in a future blog post. Showcase dates and times are as follows:

We’ll share the location of the showcase closer to the date and will see you there!

]]>2348Mon, 23 Apr 2018 19:05:00 +0000Town Hall Event with Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg - April 20https://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/2347-town-hall-event-with-linden-lab-ceo-ebbe-altberg-april-20/Second Life is turning 15 this summer...but why wait to celebrate? Last month, we wrote about 15 exciting new features and other things that we have on the roadmap for this year, including lower tier prices and double allotment on Mainland, and the return of Last Names - but there’s still more to come!

As part of our year-long 15th anniversary celebration, we’re making numerous appearances inworld to talk about Second Life and the Second Life roadmap directly with our communities! These ongoing meetups and events will provide opportunities for you to interact with and ask questions to Linden Lab executives and staffers.

To kick things off, Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg will be holding two “Town Hall” chat sessions on April 20th at 9:30 a.m. (SLT/Pacific) and 1 p.m. (SLT/Pacific). Ebbe will be sharing his vision for Second Life in 2018 and beyond, as well as taking questions from the community. Got a question for Ebbe? Post it in the Community Forum thread “A Conversation with Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg” in advance of next week’s meeting. Questions will be selected from submissions for as many as can be answered in the time frame. To join either meetup, head over to oneofthese Town Hall Regions in Second Life on April 20.

In the coming months, we plan to hold additional conversations and meetups directly with many of our communities including Firestorm users/developers, Designing Worlds, Bay City and more.

Finally, don’t forget to mark your calendars for the official SL15B Community Celebration! This year’s event, held June 17-30, is going to be spectacular! We are hearing rumblings about a few new special events linked to this year’s celebrations, too.

Stay tuned for more specific dates and details. We’ll see you inworld soon!

]]>2347Fri, 13 Apr 2018 16:06:00 +0000It’s Never Been a Better Time to Be a Premium Member!https://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/2330-it%E2%80%99s-never-been-a-better-time-to-be-a-premium-member/As many of you who play PaleoQuest and Linden Realms already know, Second Life has had a terrible rash of incidents lately involving comets falling from the sky. The obvious question from Residents has been, “What do I do if that happens to me? Will my home be burnt and decimated like Linden Realms?”

This is an unsettling prospect for obvious reasons and we hear your concerns.

While the risk of comet damage in Second Life is very low, this is a world where the only limit is your imagination. So if we can imagine a comet crashing to earth in Second Life, then it is theoretically possible.

In an effort to protect our Residents from such pandemonium, we are unveiling a new benefit exclusively for Premium Members. Should a comet fall from the sky and destroy your home in Second Life, we will cover the cost of your home and the items inside. It will be replaced by a home identical in every way to the home you had before. In fact, you may not even notice that your home was ever hit by a comet!

April Fools! While we're joking about the comet insurance, we aren't kidding about the one-day-only premium promotion happening - so go premium today!

*TERMS & CONDITIONS FOR 50% DISCOUNT This offer begins on April 1, 2018 at 8AM Pacific Time (PT) and expires on April 2, 2018 at 8AM PT. To qualify for this promotion, you must 1) have an existing Second Life ("SL") basic account or create a new account, and 2) select monthly (every one month) billing for your SL account. The fifty percent (50%) discount will be applied to your first month's bill and future months will be billed at the standard Premium Membership price (currently US$9.50 per one month). For new accounts or accounts not previously upgraded to Premium Membership, after initial login through the Second Life viewer following upgrade to Premium Membership and: 1) following your first full week, the L$300 weekly stipend will be deposited to your account every Tuesday for the duration of your Premium Membership; and 2) after your account has been active for forty-five (45) consecutive days, the L$ sign-up bonus will be deposited to your account.